This invention relates to the processing of irradiated nuclear fuel and particularly to the dissolution of irradiated nuclear fuel in nitric acid prior to the reprocessing of the fuel.
In one known process for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel the irradiated nuclear fuel material is first dissolved in nitric acid and the acid solution which contains uranium, plutonium and fission products is contacted with an organic solvent in a solvent extraction process which effects separation of the uranium and plutonium values from the fission products and from each other. During the dissolution of the irradiated fuel material gaseous fission products such as iodine 129, krypton and xenon are released. These gaseous fission products may present a hazard if released into the environment and they are preferably retained in the plant.